It’s
planting time in Nicaragua and the organic farmers are doing LOTS of
planting! There is the usual acreage of sesame (our farmers are the No. 1 exporters of sesame –
conventional or organic! – in the
country!), more than 1,000 acres of
organic peanuts being planted for our project with Once Again Nut Butter, and more than 400
acres of organic cotton.
Last week we took a potential cotton
buyer out into the field to see cotton seed being put in the ground, and boy
did we get a show! We’ve taken buyers
out to cotton fields before – most notably Bená Burda of Maggie’s Organics when
she was getting footage for the filming the video “Fabric of Humanity.” So I’m used to overwhelming farmers in the
fields with cameras rolling and interview requests while they’re trying to plow
with oxen under a hot sun, and last week the tables were turned on us! 
We arrived
in the Malpaisillo area, where we work with 4 different co-ops – 3 of which are
women’s co-ops – to meet with a co-op of organic farmers who are growing cotton for the first time this
year. The minute we stepped out of the
truck, the co-op’s president was greeting us in his ratty straw hat and smiling
for the cameras – his cameras! The co-op had videographer and
photographer team on-site to capture our visit for their own propaganda (much to our
surprise), and for the next two hours proceeded to march us from one site to
another in a well-choreographed media
moment.
We saw new
cotton plants coming up in the field, chatted under a tree about the importance
of organics for the co-op – they told the story of how when agronomist Raúl
first began working with them they were burning
their cow manure which is now their most valuable fertilizer. Mike and our client talked on camera with many
people: the most-experienced member of the co-op, the oldest member of the
co-op, and definitely the most media savvy member of the co-op. Meanwhile, I stayed in the background taking
pictures of them taking pictures and chuckling, delighted to find myself on the
other side of the fence as their videographer, photographer and two co-op
members with cell phone cameras recorded the day’s activities.
The pièce de resistance came at the end of
the visit when they brought us out to a field to see them planting cotton with
a mechanized planting contraption that they had invented themselves. To say that the farmers were proud of this
contrivance would be putting it mildly – they were bursting by the time we got
out to the field! Because our organic cotton seed has a lot of fiber left on
it, it sticks together in clumps, making it impossible to plant using a
mechanized planter pulled behind a tractor.
While most of our co-ops plow with oxen and all the others plant 
cotton
seed by hand, this co-op has several tractors and wanted to make use of their
resources. So they attached four metal
wheels behind a tractor with a bench.
Four men sit on the bench and drop the cotton seed by hand into the
ground, then the wheel rolls it under the dirt.
Simple, effective, faster…a truly appropriate
technology!
cotton
seed by hand, this co-op has several tractors and wanted to make use of their
resources. So they attached four metal
wheels behind a tractor with a bench.
Four men sit on the bench and drop the cotton seed by hand into the
ground, then the wheel rolls it under the dirt.
Simple, effective, faster…a truly appropriate
technology!
And next
time I go out to the fields, I must remember to fix my hair in case they bring
out the cameras! – Becca
